Angel McCoughtry scored 35 points to help the surging Atlanta Dream to an 85-74 victory over the Connecticut Sun. McCoughtry made 12 of 23 field goals to go along with five rebounds and four assists and drew MVP chants from the Philips Arena crowd.
As impressive as McCoughtry was in the game, Atlanta's defense dug in against the Sun holding them to just 13 points in the third quarter enabling the Dream to take control of the game. Atlanta limited the Sun to just 40 percent shooting and held a 47-37 rebounding advantage. The Dream found a good rhythm offensively and rode that to 23 assists on 33 made field goals in the game.
Sancho Lyttle finished with 12 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists while Iziane Castro Marques added 11 points off the bench. Lindsey Harding finished with six points and eight assists.
Tina Charles led Connecticut with 17 points and 12 rebounds on the evening. Renee Montgomery added 16 points and seven assists to go along with four steals. Kara Lawson came off the bench to score 11 points in the loss.
The victory gives the Dream a half game advantage over the New York Liberty for third place in the Eastern Conference. Atlanta will wrap up it's regular season schedule on Sunday in Indiana. The Liberty has games remaining against Indiana on Friday and Connecticut on Sunday. To capture the third seed, Atlanta will need to finish ahead of New York in the standings because the Liberty holds the tiebreaker against the Dream by virtue of winning the season series.
For more on the Atlanta Dream and the WNBA Playoff Picture, be sure and visit SB Nation's women's basketball blog Swish Appeal.